Angels of War (Angels of War Trilogy Book 1) (16 page)

The explosion rocked the entire home. The concrete floor buckled, the farthest wall from the bedroom fell away in smoke and splinters. A huge and fowl entity crashed into the home. Maria’s sword flashed a bright silver light as the beast rushed at her with a black sword in hand. The air thickened with sulfur and dust from her powerful black wings.
 

Her scream pierced Maria’s ears as her tall body adorned in black armor dominated the small home. Her left hand covered in armor struck the angel. The blow hurtled Maria through a far wall.

Maria landed outside the house. Joan’s shout edged with anger flooded Maria’s head. She scrambled to her feet and plunged through the hole her body made in the wall. Once inside the home, she faced a demon with drawn sword held over the Key’s caretakers. She remembered the beast, a once gorgeous angel.
 

Maria steadied her weapon. The steel flashed as light undulated off its honed edge. “Black Angel, step away from them.”

Black Angel smiled and pointed her ebony blade at the couple huddled in a corner. “I want the Key. Even trade, Maria. I take the Key, and these two stay alive,” she said.
 

Maria gazed into the frightened couple’s tear streaked eyes. Black Angel’s blade sat inches from their old bodies. “May God keep you in his loving grace for all eternity.”

Black Angel drove her sword into their soft round frames like a skewer. Lucia’s screams ripped across the tepid air. The elder couple shrieked in pain. Their arms and legs flailed. The huge she-devil flung her arm and tossed their plump bodies through the house.
 

Their corpses landed outside in the muck. Black Angel met Maria’s eyes.
 

“Joan made a mistake in choosing you,” she said.

Maria raised her sword. She gave a shout and attacked. The centuries slipped away from her mind. Their blades clashed. Sparks flew as the two hosts, one from the fertile lands of Heaven, the other from the sulfur-strewn Hell, fought a bitter battle.
 

The two beings circled and parried, thrust and lunged, hacked and chopped away at each other until their fight led them outside the small home and into the muddy road. White lightening flashed from the cloud-choked skies. Rain and strong winds lashed the two warriors. Both took flight into the air. Their wings worked hard as they fought to gain an advantage over the other.
 

Maria blocked a blow meant for her head. She kicked Black Angel in her armor-covered chest. The demon plunged to the ground. Maria followed and let off another mighty shout. Her sword flashed as she raised the weapon above her helmeted head. Black Angel rolled away as Maria’s blade plowed into the wet earth. Black Angel regained her footing, swung her weapon towards Maria’s head. The angel dodged the blow.
 

Black Angel leaped away from Maria and dashed to the house. The she-devil cut her blade through the pillars to make the roof collapse in on Lucia who curled into a tighter ball on the fractured concrete floor.
 

Lucia unrolled herself, dashed away and found another position for shelter. Splintered wood cracked like gunfire. Maria rushed forward, blind with rage and worry. Black Angel emerged from the house, a wild smile spread over her face.
 

Maria did not realize Lucia would live forever, no matter what landed on her. She confronted Black Angel and worried about Lucia. Maria hesitated. Black Angel flicked her dangerous sword and severed Maria’s sword hand.

The she-devil continued her attack without pause. She hacked off Maria’s other arm. The angel stumbled back, eyes wide in fear and shock. Black Angel sliced again.

Maria ducked, not fast enough. Black Angel’s sword cut through her helmet and sliced her head clean at the crown. Black hair connected to bloody flesh and silver metal flipped to the ground. Black Angel circled Maria and kicked the shocked angel toward the shattered house.
 

Maria’s world spun in a mad loop. She stumbled along the mud-slopped ground like a drunk. She tripped over a lip on the concrete foundation and fell. With no appendages to support her fall, she landed headfirst on the hard floor. Black Angel’s tough laughter echoed into her ears. Her eyes beheld a deep blackness before she slipped into its murky depths.

Black Angel rushed into the house. She snatched Lucia’s hair, yanked her up underneath her arm and kicked a hole in the back wall. She escaped the house as the walls collapsed on Maria.

Lucia stared at Black Angel’s flat stone eyes. She remained powerless against the demon’s strong grip. A black steed galloped from the dark clouds and hung suspended waiting for its master. The she-devil’s wings flapped hard propelling her up into the air.
 

The Key struggled, kicked her legs, and sank white teeth into Black Angel’s dead skin. She gagged and vomited as her captor mounted the horrid animal. Black Angel kicked back her spurs and drove the warhorse into the sky. Up the three went until they became specks against the night.

Joan flew fast and hard. The rains whipped against her wings. Strong winds buffeted her face as she raced across the dark skies. She appeared like lightning against the cloud-clustered night. She arrived on the Mexico City battleground and ran towards the battered house.
 

Villagers surrounded the place where the fight raged earlier. Many sank to their knees in the mud and muck. They prayed and burned candles. Joan, adorned in her full armor, hurried across the soft earth towards the home.
 

Joan ignored the masses as she folded in her white wings. She reached the jumbled wood, cinderblock, and corrugated steel. With strong hands she tore away the debris until she uncovered a smooth brown leg slick with rainwater and blood. She dug at a quicker pace until Maria’s body appeared, curled up in the fetal position. Her skull sheared clean at the crown. Gray brain matter glistened like an autopsy cross section.
 

Her left hand and her right arm lost as well. Blood pooled around the open skull. Joan knelt, hefted the angel to an upright position, and shook her.
 

“Maria, awake. Your head is still attached. Awake.” Maria’s eyes fluttered open. The angel opened her mouth and let out a horrible scream. Her eyes rolled up until the whites showed.

“Good, awake,” Joan said. “Regenerate. Bear the pain.” Maria let out another scream. Her body convulsed in Joan’s arms.

Maria’s crown grew back. Brain, bone, flesh, and black hair returned. Her right arm grew and slumped around Joan’s waist. Maria’s left hand reappeared. Once done, Maria vomited and passed out.
 

Joan stood with the mud-splattered angel carried in her arms. She spread her wings upon her back. Hands from the villagers reached out and touched the silk soft feathers and her hardened armor. She jumped into the air and pushed herself upwards until she vanished into the rain heavy clouds.
 

27

The morning sun rose bright over Washington D.C. Thick black smoke rolled above the city. Sporadic gunfire echoed off buildings. Soldiers and tanks surrounded the White House and all its other related structures. Barbed wire fences, sandbags, and concrete barriers created a tight perimeter around the White House along with guard towers occupied by snipers.
 

Helicopter gunships hovered over the White House as fighter jets patrolled the skies. The city burned six blocks away. Tanks and troops recaptured the most violent areas and quelled the civil unrest. The turbulent crowds once gathered at the White House a day before no longer clung to its black gates for safety.

Joan sat in a large battle room forty stories underneath the White House surrounded by angels and military officers. Special Forces soldiers from Task Force Gold Shield, senators and various other groups attended the meeting. Two hundred people packed the theater type room to capacity. Forty high-ranked people sat at the table located in the spacious battle room. The others found seats in plush chairs within the theater.
 

President Wallace arrived on time. He wore a dark suit, white shirt unbuttoned at the collar, and a loosened black tie and khaki pants. All fell silent and stood once he took his place at the long conference table. Earlier in the day, Joan told him the news about the Key, and he did not like what she said. He wanted to nuke the entire Los Angeles area and return to clean up the mess later.
 

President Wallace took his seat and everyone in the room followed. He folded his heavy hands, straightened his back, and made every effort to present himself as though he still controlled the country. He glanced down at the red folder, the same folder everyone else in the room read earlier.
 

“Here we go,” he whispered to Joan who sat closest to him. He stood and everyone fell silent. Behind him hung a flat screen television with a digital United States map displayed. Each state and their respective counties all color-coded red or green for security reasons. “New York is green and its citizens turned Manhattan into an armed fortress. Newark is green. Charlotte is red, along with Atlanta. Our entire Midwest is hanging strong.”
 

Raymond pulled out a laser pointer. He played a red dot over the map. “The entire northern half of California is a mixed bag. Some people escaping, and a few joining the other side. Someone broke into several California National Guard armories and managed to get their hands on tanks, helicopters, and other military hardware.”
 

He gazed into the faces before him. “Within the past twenty-four hours this country experienced the worst emergency in history,” he said. “The reality struck us yesterday, when Lord Goth made demands this country will not meet, and the fact the enemy tried to assassinate me last night.”

Wallace pressed a button on the laser pointer. Lord Wrath’s picture appeared, the one taken by UAV. Gasps fluttered throughout the room.

“The situation is almost desperate after losing the Key, whose real name is Lucia. Training for Task Force Gold Shield is a priority. Let me introduce you to Joan, Maria, Okura, and Daisy Lane,” the president said.
 

Each angel responded with a curt nod. The entire room riveted their eyes on the four angels dressed in casual clothes.
 

Wallace turned off the pointer and placed the device down. “General Black will fill you in.”

General Black stood and approached the map. He glanced back at the digital screen and turned to the people seated at the table. “The Marines are moving from Camp Pendleton soon, and they are taking every piece of equipment they can. The fight in Los Angeles left them without the support and sufficient arms needed to sustain a heavy fight.”
 

He walked over to the digital map on the wall. “Denver,” he said. He flicked the pointer, the map changed from Wrath’s gruesome face to a satellite image. He zoomed the camera in on Colorado, and highlighted Denver, and along the Rocky Mountains.
 

“The Marines procured enough fuel and arms to make the trip to Denver. Fighter jets will be flying out first as escorts.”

From the audience Colonel Bowmen raised his hand, the general nodded in his direction. “What are the chances the oppositional forces will attack the Marines?”

“High. At the moment, we are concentrating on getting the Marines out of California, and fortifying Denver as soon as possible. Denver is our line in the sand folks.”

Joan took in the general’s words as she worked on a plan to save the Key. Maria’s fight brought a strong reality to her. The angels faced a grim problem, they needed to train and make their skills stronger. Black Angel’s fighting talent revealed she trained hard for the invasion. On the opposite side, Maria woke from a mortal slumber akin to being brain dead.
 

Joan laid a hand on Maria’s shoulder in reassurance. No one blamed her for the Key’s abduction. They all needed to practice and train Task Force Gold Shield for the battle.

“…Joan, do you want to add anything?”

Joan turned away from her thoughts and stood. She made eye contact with everyone at the table and up at the packed theater. “If anyone here did not receive the information, Denver is the back gate into Hell.”
 

The room bustled, murmurs rose. God’s name whispered in a wave throughout the audience to declare their disparity and fear. “General Temeculus arrived to open this door, and jump-start the Apocalypse. We need to secure the door and destroy the army he’s trying to create.”

“Why can’t God come down and end this war if He’s so powerful?” This question came from a voice in the audience and drew several nods and mumbled agreements.

Joan gave a closed mouth smile. Her face grew hot from the man’s question. “Peter Hinze, if God decided to stop Temeculus, the Apocalypse would begin and this would not give you the chance to change your evil ways. God is all powerful.”
 

She read his mind. Images flashed by: a child’s huge eyes filled with tears, tiny hands forced to touch him where they should not. Peter Hinze’s face paled and twitched. He rose from his seat and left the room in a hurry. She cared less if he hung himself or not.
 

“Anymore questions?”

Senator Fred Temper from Ohio stood. “How large is his army, Joan?”

“He arrived with one hundred thousand soldiers soldiers trained for one purpose, to conquer this planet and open the back door to Hell. He also needs human souls to fill his Black Army on earth, and Satan’s army in Hell. These numbers are necessary to conquer the world.”

“Did other countries comply with his requests?” A Marine general asked at the table.

President Wallace spoke. “At this time no. China stood down three hours ago after confirming our situation. Britain is on our side. France is trying to figure out a way to negotiate. They realize this is more than an American problem.”

Joan followed up behind Wallace. “Tomorrow morning we will start training Task Force Gold Shield, which I renamed the Guardians. Remember people, we must make sacrifices.”